


Night Shift

by Dangit



Category: One Piece
Genre: Blood Drinking, Fantasy, Multi, Slow Build, Vampires, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-12-25 09:14:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12032817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dangit/pseuds/Dangit
Summary: Working at a grocery store wasn't supposed to be this bad for his health.





	1. A Wonderful Life

“You better fucking hurry up with that order or it’s going straight to the fucking trash!”

Sanji grits his teeth and takes the pan out of the fire, glaring at the old man as he moves to pour the lime-spiced shrimp on the white plate waiting for him. He ignores the quiet snickering and grabs the cilantro sauce at the side, pouring it gently over the shrimp and cleaning away any imperfections with a napkin.

“Table seventeen, order up!” Sanji exclaims, placing the plate on the line.

“About fucking time,” Zeff growls. “Clean up your area if you want to leave on time, eggplant.”

Sanji glances at the clock; he has about forty minutes to get to work, and the Thousand Sunny is a good twenty minutes away. If he hurries, he’ll only be five minutes late at the most.

He ignores the quiet snickers and the obvious stares and moves to clean his area. He puts up any leftover food, takes his dirty pans and friers towards the sink to wash them, and sanitizes his entire area. He works quickly, ignoring everyone, but he still has to rush out of the restaurant.

It’s only until he’s half-way to the Thousand Sunny that he realizes he didn’t grab his lunch.

“Fuck,” he curses, swerving his car as someone cuts him off. He didn’t eat breakfast, either. All he’s had is an apricot he sneaked two hours ago, plus two cigarettes. Maybe he can buy something at the store during his break.

But when he arrives at the Thousand Sunny, the packed parking lot is enough of a clue to tell him he won’t be getting his breaks today.

Sanji has only been working two jobs for about seven weeks now, but it is already _so_ hard. A lot of people may say that being a cashier at a grocery store is not a difficult job—and to a degree, they are right—but it still takes a physical toll.

He walks in and already there are children screaming, voices overlapping, and the constant beeping of scanning machines. The air is stifling inside and he gains a few looks because of his crisp, white uniform.

He has five minutes to clock in, but first he stops by the empty break room to switch his chef’s whites for the black jeans and collared red shirt that is his uniform as a cashier.

“Sanji, have you clocked in?”

“No, ma’am,” Sanji says, glancing at his Lead.

“Well, hurry up,” Nami snaps. “Jason was supposed to clock out fifteen minutes ago!”

He clocks in then hurries to register nine, where Jason looks dead on his feet, dealing with a couple who have what looks like half the store up on the conveyor belt.

“Coming in for you,” Sanji tells him. 

“Oh thank God,” Jason groans. “Do you mind scanning with my number? Password’s all nines.”

“Go home, Jason,” Sanji says. “I got this.”

“Thanks, man.”

The lady glances at Jason as he leaves, then glares at Sanji. “You better be faster than that other kid. I got places to be.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

This is still a lot better than the Baratie.

This jobs is mindless. Scan, click a few codes in, take the total, and give out the receipt. He doesn’t even have to count the money, since they have a machine to do that. Sanji has no responsibility other than making sure every customer leaves with a receipt.

The lines don’t get any shorter, it _is_ a Friday after all, but luckily for Sanji, Nami is able to give him a break half-way through his shift. Unfortunately, since the lines are so fucking long, Sanji does’t get the time to buy himself something so he simply just goes back to the break room to rest his weary feet.

There are two of his coworkers in the break room, a new girl he doesn’t know the name of, and Usopp.

“Tired?”

“You have no idea,” Sanji mutters, groaning as he’s finally able to sit down.

“You have another job, right?” Usopp asks. “In the mornings?”

“Yeah,” Sanji nods. “Pretty early, too, so I’m glad I don’t close.”

“Y-yeah.”

Sanji glances at Usopp, noticing the way he’s biting his lower lip worryingly and sighs. He knows he’s going to regret asking, but Usopp has been nothing to nice to him in these past weeks, something Sanji desperately needed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nah, just looking for someone to cover a closing shift for me next week,” Usopp says, leaning back against his chair. “I forgot to ask for the day off, and that’s my girlfriend’s, uh, birthday.”

Thousand Sunny runs on three shifts: opening shift, which is from six to noon, rush shift, which runs from noon to six, and the closing shift, which is from six to midnight. Sanji always schedules himself for the rush shift, even though it’s the busiest, because he works at the Baratie in the mornings, and he has to wake up early, so he can’t afford to close.

Covering a closing shift would be hell. Sanji lives almost an hour away, and it takes him so long to fall asleep, he would probably end up sleeping two hours at the most.

“You, ah…you’ve been dating long?”

“Yeah.” Usopp gets a really dreamy look in his eyes, a dumb smile spreading across his face. “We’ve, ah, we’ve known each other since I was a little boy, but we’ve only been dating for two years.”

Damn, he’s going to regret this. “I’ll cover for you.”

Usopp looks at him, surprised. “Wait, what?”

“I’ll cover it.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I know you usually work Saturdays, which is the day I need, so you’re probably going to have to work a double shift, and that’s _twelve_ hours and—.”

“Usopp, I can handle it,” Sanji interrupts. “Besides, I need the hours anyway. And it’s just one day.”

“Thank you so much!” Usopp exclaims happily, grabbing his shoulder to bring him in for a hug. “I owe you big time, Sanji.”

“You do,” Sanji replies drily. “Isn’t your break supposed to be over soon?”

“Oh fuck, you’re right. Nami’s gonna kill me!”

Usopp hurries out, giving him a thumbs up before walking out, and Sanji groans. He runs a hand down his face, already feeling next week’s exhaustion on him. But at least a pretty lady is going to enjoy a nice birthday.

 

Working two jobs does’t give him a lot of time, but he needs the money. Contrary to what people might believe, being the son of a restaurant owner does not equal wealth; all of the Baratie’s money goes towards renovation, supplies, and pay checks. Whatever is left over, Zeff uses to pay for his medications. Not that they have much left over lately.

The Baratie isn’t the restaurant it used to be, and Sanji blames himself every day for that.

“Deadline’s coming up.”

Sanji glances at his father. There’s a lull in orders, more common now than it used to be five months ago when they were at their peak, so Sanji is using the opportunity to have an early lunch. 

He has to cover Usopp’s shift today, after all.

“What deadline?” Sanji asks, though he knows. It’s all his father ever talks about.

“Applications are due next week,” Zeff says gruffly, eyes on the dough he’s kneading. “And you haven’t filed for financial aid.”

“Ah, that. Didn’t I tell you? I’m not going back to school.”

Zeff stops and looks up at him, face murderous. “I don’t hire anyone without at least a community college degree.”

“Well, technically, you never hired me,” Sanji shrugs. He makes less than anyone else in the entire restaurant, about four dollars an hour. He doesn’t take a paycheck like the others, only taking money from the restaurant when he can’t make ends meet with his second paycheck. 

Everything else goes towards paying the hospital bill.

“You already have one year down, you can’t—.”

“I don’t have the time or the money to go to school, old man,” Sanji snaps, glaring at his father. “I’ve told you, I’m not going back. I’m going to check on the floor,” he adds before his father can answer.

He picks up his dirty dishes and places them by the sink, before exiting the kitchen. There are maybe about four tables full out of the twenty-four. In total, there’s about nine people in the restaurant, and two of their waiters are simply sitting near the break area, their tables empty.

“Why don’t you guys take your lunch break?” Sanji says, approaching them. “I’ll take over.”

Lisa rolls her eyes and Adam shrugs, but they both walk out. Sanji sighs and runs a hand through his hair. They had to lay off two of their waiters two months ago, they simply couldn’t afford it, so morale is down. They down-sized in the kitchen as well, firing three busboys and all of their dishwashers, as well as four cooks.

The way things are looking, they will either have to fire their last two busboys or another cook. Sanji glances at the Hiring sign shoved under a bunch of files underneath the counter. It’s starting to gather dust.

Sanji rifles through the papers above it, snorting when he realizes is the old research Zeff was doing about expanding. The number for the real estate agent of the empty building to their right, the construction company that helped them with the kitchen extension three years ago, their projected spending and growth…all of it, useless.

He hears the front door open and instantly perks up, moving to help the family of four to a table, but before he’s even half-way there, Maria cuts through.

“I got it,” she mutters at him.

“But you have two other—.”

“I said, I got it,” she repeats coldly, glaring at him.

There really isn’t anything he can do. They’re already lucky enough that none of their old waiters decided to quit after their pay deduction, Sanji can’t afford to have any of them quit. “Sure, dear,” he answers, defeated.

Nobody else comes in the next half-hour. Lisa and Adam come back from their lunch break, and Sanji sends Maria and Jason out. A man comes in but Lisa takes him, then a mother with her two sons, and Adam takes that. The hour is up, and it’s about time for Sanji to head out.

It’s not a bad day at the Thousand Sunny. Sanji gets to work a bit on Returns, which basically is just picking up misplaced items and returning them to their correct spots, and that makes time run by faster. It also lets him walk around the store and stretch his legs, so he doesn’t feel as tired come the night shift.

Things pick up the closer they get to closing time, and since Sanji has never closed before, Coby, the night Lead, has him pair up with Janet to show him the ropes.

“So basically we just have to clean the registers, make sure the Return Room is cleaned up, and process out any damages,” Janet tells him. “You have to do training to process out damages, so you can help me clean registers.”

“So just start on the ones that are closed?” Sanji asks, glancing at the few registers that are still open. There’s like fifteen minutes left before the store closes, and Coby is working on getting the customers out of the aisles and into the registers.

“Yeah, we can go back and finish the open ones once the store closes,” Janet says. “Today was a good day, so we might be getting out a bit early.”

At least there’s that. Even if it’s only fifteen minutes of half an hour, Sanji could use the time. His feet are killing him, he’s hungry, and all he wants to do is shower to get rid off the day’s grit. 

Sanji is half-way through cleaning his fifth register—well after the last customer has left the store—when he notices a few people unloading crates of food into the center isles. There’s a bunch of guys he doesn’t recognize, and even though a few of them are wearing the red uniform shirt, most of them are dressed in just regular clothes.

“How’s it going, Sanji?” Coby asks, distracting him. 

“Uh, fine,” Sanji shrugs. “It’s easy work.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t that bad today,” Coby grins. “Closing only sucks when the Return Room gets filled up. But Kyle is almost done with damages, too, and there’s only a couple of baskets left in the Return Room, so I’ll be able to get more people to help you and Janet with registers. We should be out of here in fifteen, twenty minutes tops.”

So Sanji will be able to get home before one…that’s more time for him to sleep. “Thank God,” he grins. “Hey, Coby, who are those guys?”

Coby glances at the guys in surprise. “Oh, those are the night stockers.”

“Oh.” Well, that’s obvious now that he thinks about it. There’s about eight of them, but Sanji’s attention is mostly focused on the dark-haired guy laughing loudly with a green-haired guy with multiple piercings in his face.

“Oi, Luffy! Get the fuck to work!”

The loud shout surprised him, drawing his attention to a second green-haired man—seriously, what’s with the hair?—dressed primly in his uniform. Sanji raises an eyebrow—with his colored hair and pierced earrings, not to mention the sheer size of him, the man looks strange wearing his red uniform shirt tucked in neatly into his jeans, black belt and polished black shoes on.

“Sorry, Zoro!”

Coby laughs. “That’s Luffy for you. Well, good job so far, Sanji. Keep it up.”

“Y-yeah, thanks.”

Just like Coby predicted, things get done with quickly. One of the great things about the Thousand Sunny—perhaps because of their generous pay and low manager supervision—is that every employee has the initiative to do their job _and_ more. So when one person is done with their assigned task, they simply help out others.

“Oh, Sanji, can you open up a register and check out the night stockers?” Coby asks him. “I’ll have the others do the last sweep while you do that.”

“No problem.”

“Thanks! You can clock out as soon as you’re done.”

Coby calls the night stockers to the first register for Sanji to check out. Most of them only have snacks and a drink, something to tie them over the night, but the familiar black-haired boy named Luffy comes to the line with about forty dollars worth of food.

“Sure you got everything?” Sanji asks sarcastically.

“Oh! I forgot a coke!”

“Stay in the damn line, Luffy.” It’s the green-haired guy, with about as much food as Luffy. This close, Sanji notices the scar that cuts through his eye. It’s thin, not too shocking, but it leaves his eye closed shut and gathers curiosity.

“You’re no fun, Zoro,” Luffy whines and Zoro rolls his eyes. Or well, _eye_.

“That’s gonna be thirty-seven fifty,” Sanji says. Luffy pays with a debit card, then it’s Zoro’s turn.

He doesn’t speak to Sanji, his eyes glued to the screen showcasing his prices, and when Sanji finishes, he simply pays and leaves, all without uttering a single world. For some reason, it irks Sanji, but he quickly dismisses the irritation, glad to be able to finally leave.

It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, but he certainly won’t be taking any more double shifts any time soon.

 

He finds a couple of brochures on community colleges on his station. There’s even a really helpful one stating all the deadlines for upcoming financial aid. Sanji throws them away and uses the excuse of throwing out the trash to take a smoke break.

The little coffee place across from their restaurant has gotten really popular as of late. The building next to it has a Sold sign, as well as a sign for the Mexican restaurant that’s going to open there soon. The building next to them is still vacated, but the location is excellent, so it won’t stay like that for long.

Sanji kills the flame under his shoe and returns to the kitchen to get ahead on the lunch rush. Or the poor excuse of a rush they get nowadays.

At the Thousand Sunny, Usopp brings him McDonald’s as a thank you for covering his shift, and since he’s lucky enough to enjoy his break at the same time as Nami’s lunch break, she invites him out to eat outside of the food truck that rents out a spot on the outer corners of their parking lot.

It’s a good day, and Sanji is surprised by how much he prefers working at the grocery store than the Baratie.

“Today’s the deadline.”

Sanji looks up at his father. His apron is covered in flour and the braids of his mustache are coming a bit loose. “Is it?” he asks, disinterested.

“You didn’t turn anything in, did you?”

Sanji sighs. This is a never ending battle. He doesn’t know why his father insist so much on him going to college, it’s not like he really needs it. He practically grew up in the Baratie, there’s little else he can learn about being a chef. “No, I didn’t.”

“Alright then; you’re fired.”

Sanji rolls his eyes and snorts, but when he glances back at Zeff, he’s surprised by the serious expression on his face. “What?”

“I said you’re fired,” Zeff growls, glaring at him. “Grab your stuff and get out.”

Fired? This has to be a joke! Surely Zeff won’t go that far simply to convince him to go back to college! “Fired? Are you fucking kidding me?” Sanji exclaims. “You can’t fire me.”

“Don’t tell me what I can and can not do, Eggplant!” Zeff snarls. “You say you have no time to go to school? Well, now you do. I don’t want to see you in my restaurant again, you hear me? You’re fired!”

The silence is absolute. Sanji can’t even move an inch. He’s fired….really fired. He could argue and stubbornly stay, but then he would just get kicked out. He could ignore his father, or just beg to stay, but his pride won’t allow that. 

It’s not like anyone will be sad to see him gone, anyway.

Sanji looks down, his hair curtaining his face, and angrily unties his apron, throwing it on the counter before he leaves the kitchen towards the break room. Maria is sitting there, browsing her phone, but he ignores her as he goes straight to his locker room and grabs his bag, exiting through the back.

He only stops once he’s seated safely inside of his car, the loud thumping of his heart the only thing he can hear. He turns on the car and turns the radio on loud to cover it up, his hand blindingly searching for a cigarette on his breast pocket.

He has no idea what to do with himself. His shift at the Sunny is still three hours away and he has no one to talk to. 

All of his so called friends stopped talking to him once the bills started pouring in. No one wouldreach out to him while he spent so much time in the hospital, with Zeff. No one cared enough to ask about his father. All he ever does now is work.

All he can do is go back to his apartment.

He moved out of Zeff’s house about a year ago, when the Baratie was still famous. His apartment is not the most luxurious, but the rent is definitely more than he can afford with a part time job. He will probably need to start working more hours.

He lives on the second floor of the four story building, his apartment on the outside corner. He pays a little extra, since the view is amazing and he has a lot of windows and natural light coming in, but he also saves on electricity, so he’s fine with that.

When the elevator doors open to his floor, he’s a little surprised to see his next door neighbor at his door. He hardly ever sees the man, since he works a night shift, but at least he doesn’t make a lot of noise and hardly ever bothers Sanji.

“Hey,” he greets, giving Sanji a tired smile. “What a surprise.”

“Just got laid off,” Sanji answers, giving him an understated, nonchalant shrug. “What about you?”

“Just clocked out,” Gin answers. “Stayed a bit later than usual; now I’m tired as hell.”

Sanji gives him what he hopes is an understanding smile. “I’ll try not to make too much noise.”

Gin’s face reddens a little. “That’s not what I—you don’t bother me at all! I sleep like a log, make all the noise you want!”

Sanji laughs. “Don’t worry, Gin. I’ll probably just watch some TV before I head off to work as well. Rest up.”

“I’ll do that,” Gin mutters, the color of his cheeks fading a little. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Sleep tight!”

Now that he thinks about it, Gin works at the Thousand Sunny as well. Do night stockers make more than scanners? They do work more hours, he’s pretty sure Gin has clocked in overtime a couple of times, which anyone hardly ever does, even the Leads.

But then again, Sanji doesn’t want to work through the night. Gin looks like the walking dead—no insult meant, but seriously, the man needs to gain some weight—and Sanji doesn’t plan to work at a freaking grocery store for the rest of his days. 

All he needs to do is ask for a few extra shifts, cut his spending more, and try to look for a second job. There are plenty of other restaurants that will hire him—even if not as a cook, as a waiter or even a host. 

But even then, all he needs to do is give his father some time to cool off. He’s just mad because Sanji has no intention of going to college. He’s frustrated, but he will have to understand soon enough.

It’s what’s best for all of them.


	2. It's Rude to Bite

He has been working double shifts for about two weeks, and it is absolute hell. It’s enough to bump him up to full time, which means he’s gaining vacation hours and his paycheck is enough to cover rent and bills, but he’s also putting a few extra hours at a local Starbucks to pay for the hospital bills that arrive every week, like clockwork. A hundred dollars a week, which equals to four hundred a month, which equals to forty-eight hundred a year. With a bill of $26,000, it’ll take Sanji about six years to pay it off.

Not bad.

This country’s health system is a total joke.

“Sanji! Hey, I heard you were looking for a shift.”

“Hey, Jason,” Sanji mutters, staring at the grayish table. This is his first time taking such an early shift, and he made the mistake of not drinking a gallon of coffee before arriving at work. And now it is eight in the morning, his first break, and he’s paying the price.

At least the store is pretty empty right now, since it opened just an hour ago.

“I got the day off tomorrow, so why not?” Sanji shrugs. “You got a shift?”

“Yup. It’s a closing shift, though,” Jason says, taking a large sip of his Red Bull. Sanji licks his lips…he hates energy drinks, but that looks so good right about now. Or he could simply buy some coffee and milk and use the microwave to heat up some water….ugh, that sounds like such a hassle though.

“I’ll take it,” Sanji answers. “But on one condition. Buy me one of those.”

Jason grins at him. “You got it.”

Jason does buy him a Red Bull, which gives Sanji enough energy to smile his way through a three-basket order with a lady that ends up leaving everything when her card gets declined. And then, he’s off by noon, and he’s got nothing else to do so of course, he gets home and promptly falls asleep.

He’s been sleeping a lot more lately. He has nothing else to do, but work and sleep, so it’s understandable. Like Zeff said, he does have more time, which would be excellent if he was still in college, but he has no money, so…

“You got no one to blame but yourself,” he mutters out loud, staring at his bedroom ceiling. 

The next day, he has an early shift at the Starbucks, which actually doesn’t suck. He loves the smell of coffee beans in the morning, and he gets to drink coffee too, so it’s a win-win. That’s only a five hour shift, so he gets the time to head back home and have an actual meal—in his dining room, not his living room for once—before he heads in for his closing shift at the Thousand Sunny.

“Sanji! Jason told me you were covering for him,” Nami greets him. “I’m closing today, too!”

“Ah, those are the best news I could have ever received!” Sanji exclaims happily. “Working all day with you, my lovely Nami! It’s not a job at all!”

“Alright, settle down,” Nami says, rolling her eyes. “We had a bit of a rush before you came in, but it’s settled down now; I just need you in the Return room, clear that up before the day ends.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

He loves returns. It’s the only job at the front end that doesn’t require him having an actual conversation with a customer. Some will stop him and ask him where something is, but all Sanji has to do is grunt out an isle number, and they leave him alone. It’s as close to retail paradise as he’s ever going to get.

Unfortunately for Sanji, the store starts to fill up as the day ends, which means he gets taken off returns and put on a register. He used to be one of those people that went inside a store ten or five minutes before it closed, but ever since he started working here, he’s stopped that habit.

There’s nothing worse that seeing someone walk in through the doors five minutes before you’re supposed to close.

“Attention, Sunny Customers! Our store will be closing in five minutes. Please make your final selections and move to the front for a fast and friendly checkout. As a reminder, our store closes at eleven p.m. daily, and once again, thank you for shopping at The Thousand Sunny!”

Nami’s chirp voice ends and Sanji breathes out a quiet sigh of relief. He has a really long line, but at least he won’t be put on cleaning duty. His legs hurt and all he wants to do is get home and go to sleep.

“Working hard or hardly working, eh?”

Sanji’s responding grimace barely passes off as a smile, but he adds fake laughter in to sell it.Two more people get in his line by the time the store closes, but at least there’s not a lot of people left in the store.

Sanji works fast and diligently, trying to clear out the customers so he can start helping his coworkers with other things and get out as soon as possible. Still, he’s the last person to close down, twenty minutes after closing, just around the time the night stockers start coming in.

He’s had a couple of other closing shifts, but he still hasn’t gotten to meet all of the night stockers. He knows Nami and Coby are friendly with them, but that’s mostly because the two Leads close more often that he does. The only person out of the the night crew that he really knows is Gin. Other than that, there’s the black-haired Luffy, Barto—a guy with more piercings than face—and the Stocker Lead, Zoro. There’s four more, to make a total of eight, but Sanji hasn’t gotten the chance to speak to any of them.

After closing and cleaning his register, Nami asks him to help clear out the Returns Room, which takes most of the night. They can’t leave until the room is clear and all registers are clean, and there’s no way they will be done before midnight.

He’s doing his last basket, half an hour after midnight, when Nami calls him over.

“Sanji! Are you almost done?”

“Yeah, just need to drop off a few things in isle six,” he says, nodding to the instant soups in his basket.“Do you need some help, Nami?”

Nami gives him a sympathetic smile. “Actually, yeah. I’d hate to ask, but one of the night stockers called in sick and Usopp was supposed to cover for him, but he hasn’t shown up. I’ve been trying to get someone to cover for him so he doesn’t get in trouble, but no one has offered. Do you think you could do it?”

Sanji blinks at her. “You mean, cover an overnight shift?”

“I _know_ ,” Nami sighs. “But hey, wouldn’t this be overtime for you? And if you work after midnight, you get a dollar extra, so you’d be getting this shift for around $18 an hour. Not bad, huh?”

Sanji hesitates. Yeah, that actually sounds pretty good. He’s already worked enough hours to cover all of his bills, so anything more would be pocket money. How long has it been since he’s had money to spend on whatever he wants?

He can actually buy himself some new clothes. Or maybe go to the movies—even just order takeout.

“How long is the shift?” Sanji asks.

“Midnight to six, thought it’s already past midnight,” Nami says, glancing at her phone. “And you get a paid half-hour lunch.”

Oh man, how sad is it that the prospect of pocket money is seriously making him consider working a double shift? Does he have work tomorrow? Yeah, another closing shift. If he works this one, it will seriously mess up his sleeping schedule…but he’ll have enough money to buy himself a new pair of shoes.

Fuck it.

“Alright, I’ll take it.”

“Thank you!” Nami exclaims happily. “Oh my god, Usopp owes you so badly! Okay, just leave that basket there and go tell Zoro you’re covering for Usopp. He’ll tell you what to do.”

“Green-haired dude, right?” Sanji asks, even though he’s pretty sure he remembers who Zoro is. The guy is rude as fuck.

“Yup, the one without all the piercings,” Nami says. “He should in the back, in Receiving.”

Receiving, aka the back area where shipments get dropped off. Sanji only ever goes to the back to throw away the trash or crush cardboard boxes, but he’s seen the two gated exits on the far side that hook to the back of the truck’s trailer. 

The green-haired Lead is back there like Nami said, checking over the unloaded crates.

“Hey, you’re Zoro?”

He looks up at him, frowning. Now that he thinks about it, Zoro looks to be around his age. He’s just… _big_. And his face is hard, that scowl making him look menacing and bad tempered all the time.

“Who’s asking?”

“I’m Sanji. I’m covering for Usopp,” he introduces himself. 

“You’ve never covered a night shift before, have you?” he asks.

“Nope, but no one else wanted to do it,” Sanji shrugs. “So you get me.”

Zoro snorts. “Alright. You’ll be in charge of isles 1 and 2, the easiest. Those are already unloaded, so the palettes should be at the end of each isle. Just combine and face what’s already there, and stock the shelves.”

“Seems easy enough,” Sanji says and Zoro snorts.

“Yeah, so don’t mess it up.”

Sanji stares at the other man, indignant. Did he just insinuate…? He bites back the snappish response that bubbles up and gives a curt nod. Working in retail has really helped him keep his temper in check.

“By the way, you don’t get to leave until your isles are finished, so work fast.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Sanji says sarcastically and walks away.

Damn, that guy is annoying. He must have started working here straight out of high school, if he’s already a Lead. 

Just like Zoro said, palettes are waiting for him to unload. It’s a quiet job, since he’s working alone, and even though it’s more physical than working the register, it’s also a lot more enjoyable. There are no customers to be nice to, no one watching over his shoulder timing him, no one to engage in pointless conversation with. 

Just him, working in silence, at his own pace.

He doesn’t realize just how long he’s taking until he moves to the second isle and sees that the store is empty. He takes a look at isle 3, but it’s already been stocked up, the shelves full.

Is he really taking long? It doesn’t look like time-wasting work, but when he looks at his phone, the time already reads 3:46. Damn, as much as he hates to admit it, Zoro was right.

He needs to work faster.

Then again…time is going fast, and the longer it takes, the more he gets paid. As long as he gets done before six, which is when the store opens, he should be fine, right?

He’s about to start unloading the first crate when he hears the sound of something crashing. Is someone else here? Everything echoes inside the store, but it sounded like the sound came from the back.

Is Zoro back there?

Did he drop something?

Sanji grins with glee. He’s not one to gloat, but if Zoro dropped and broke something, then he’s in _huge_ trouble. And probably needs help, which Sanji will be glad to give, as long as Zoro knows that he made a mistake and Sanji’s the one coming to the rescue.

He hears another loud crash and frowns. Wait, is he doing it on purpose? Maybe it’s something serious. He starts moving, then running when he hears a third, louder crash. The store _really_ is empty, the lights dimmed and the music stopped playing a long time ago.

He hears a grunt then a shouted curse just as he runs past the back doors, and immediately freezes at the sight in front of him.

Zoro is on the floor, battered and bloodied, with Gin kneeling on top of him, knife poised to strike again. Gin is bleeding from his mouth, breathing hard and clearly struggling to hold Zoro down, but he has the upper hand.

He’s about to kill him.

“Gin!” Sanji shouts without thinking, but it’s enough for his neighbor to look up, eyes wide.

“San—aagh!”

“Gin!” he shouts again, horrified.

In the moment that Gin was distracted, Zoro was able to knock him back. But instead of running away or disarming him, Zoro pushes him into the ground and…sinks his teeth into his shoulder.

Zoro _bites_ him.

Sanji is frozen, shocked by the sight of Zoro bent over Gin’s convulsing body, face bloodied as he rips a chunk of Gin’s skin with his teeth, only to latch his mouth around the open wound and _suck_.

He wants to shout, run over and knock Zoro away, rescue Gin however he can, but he’s frozen. He can’t move, paralyzed by the sight in front of him, and there’s _so_ much blood already, there’s no way—.

“Zoro, stop!” Luffy shouts, suddenly there to pull back Zoro and hold him down as he snarls and tries to escape Luffy’s grip.

Sanji blinks. When did Luffy get there? He didn’t seem him at all, it was like he appeared out of nowhere, just suddenly there. He’s holding a trashing Zoro down despite his smaller frame, face grim as he stops his friend from killing Gin.

Sanji’s eyes move away from Zoro and Luffy to Gin, but the man is gone. There’s a trail of blood leading towards one of the exits, but how Gin ran away so fast, he has no idea.

“I’m fine, Luffy!”

He glances back at the two friends, where Zoro is seemingly back to normal.

“This is what happens when you don’t eat!” Luffy snaps and Zoro wipes the blood from his mouth with his arm.

“I don’t need to be chided by you,” Zoro growls.

“Chopper said we had to eat _everyday_!”

“I said, I don’t need—.”

Sanji takes a step back and both friends turn around to stare at him. Sanji freezes for a moment, and then bursts into a flat out run. But he’s no further than the main hall that he stops again, frozen by the sight of Zoro and Luffy standing in front of him.

“Sanji, we can ex—.”

“Don’t come any closer!” Sanji shouts, taking a fighting stance. He’s pretty sure neither man is human, but he has no idea what they are. Right now, he’s running on adrenaline and shock, his only thought not to get killed.

“Eh, you wanna fight, blondie?” Zoro smirks, bloodied lips stretching over a pearly white smile.

Sanji can’t help but take a step back, reminded of what those teeth can do.

“Don’t worry, Sanji! Zoro’s just joking,” Luffy grins. “We’re not evil!”

“I just saw him take a chunk out of another guy’s shoulder,” Sanji reminds them, still in high alert. “Forgive me for being a little hesitant to believe you!”

“Gin attacked me first!” Zoro snaps. “Fucking hunter tried to kill me! Shanks needs to seriously fix the background check system.”

“Enough!” Sanji shouts, stopping Luffy from answering and continuing the conversation. “What the hell are you two?”

Zoro scowls and crosses his arms while Luffy just blinks at him. “Eh? I thought that was pretty obvious,” he says, scratching his head. He glances at Zoro, who only shrugs, then back at Sanji.

“Well, to put it simply—we’re vampires.”

Sanji’s mouth goes slack. “Come again?”

“Vampires!” Zoro snaps. “You know, blood and fangs. The undead and all that.”

“So like, Twilight?”

“Oh man, I wish!” Luffy laughs. “But nah, we can’t sparkle.”

“Say that one more time, and I’ll kick your ass,” Zoro growls. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“Go? I’m not going anywhere with you?” Sanji exclaims. Vampires…he can’t believe it. Vampires aren’t real, such things don’t exist. But then again, how does he explain the whole speed thing and the biting?

Are they cannibals? They eat humans, with some grandeur illusion about vampires?And why was Gin attacking Zoro? Does he know something about this?

“What, you think we’re just going to let you go now that you know about us?” Zoro snorts. “You’re coming with us.”

“Yup! No worries, it’ll be fine!” Luffy grins.

Sanji takes a step back, heart thumping loudly, and swallows hard.

This is _so_ not worth the extra money.


	3. Threat or Promise?

He’s on the back of Zoro’s car, listening to Luffy and Zoro argue about directions. Zoro has been going in circles, a fact he refuses to admit, while Luffy is trying to direct him to wherever they’re going.

Sanji’s trying to figure out how fast the car is going, and how much it would hurt if he decides to jump out.

“Don’t even think about it. You’ll die.”

Sanji’s eyes snap to the rearview mirror, where Zoro is glaring at him. 

“Are you gonna drink my blood?”

“What? And get food poisoning?”

“Of course not!” Luffy says at the same time, twisting on his seat to look at Sanji. “We don’t hurt people.”

Sanji rolls his eyes. Well, he’s pretty sure Gin was hurt. “Where are you taking me?”

“Like we’re going to tell—.”

“To Chopper!”

“God damn it, Luffy!” Zoro snaps. “Interrupt me one more time, see what happens!”

“You’re mean, Zoro!” Luffy snaps back. “Sanji’s cool! Usopp likes him!”

“Usopp’s a terrible judge of character,” Zoro mutters. 

“Nah, I think he’s nice, too,” Luffy grins. “Right, Sanji?”

“Well, I’m nicer than the moss.”

Zoro glares at him. “I _will_ bite you.”

Sanji bites his lip. As much as he hates to admit it, Zoro can probably kill him in the blink of an eye. He’s fast, just like Luffy, and Sanji is at a serious disadvantage. He has pride, but he also wants to live.

“Okay, take a right here—no, your _other_ right… and Chopper’s house is at the end of the street.”

“I know where it is!” Zoro snaps.

“You get so moody when you’re hungry, Zoro.”

“And yet you keep pissing me off.”

Chopper’s house is normal, as far as Sanji can see. The outside walls are painted coral pink, and the yard is well-kept, a large tree in the front yard sporting a tire swing. It’s a cute little house, not something Sanji would ever associate with vampires.

If, you know, he ever associated anything with the imaginary creatures.

“Look, Nami’s here already!”

“Nami?” Does Nami know about this? Holy shit—is Nami a vampire? No, he’s seen her in sunlight. Vampires don’t like sunlight, right? He tries to think about all he knows about vampires, but can only recall that stupid twilight movie he watched with one of his ex-girlfriends. 

Shit, he’s not even completely sure whether he believes these two about being vampires. 

“Let’s go curly.”

“Fuck you,” Sanji snarls. Zoro glances at him, smirks, then slams the door shut.

“C’mon, Sanji!”

What choice does he have? He unbuckles his seat belt and gets out of the car. He recognizes Nami’s yellow Volkswagen parked on the driveway, and hopes the beautiful red-head is not involved in something dangerous.

Zoro knocks loudly on the door and Sanji tenses at the sound of footsteps. The doorstep light turns on, and then the front door opens to reveal…a teenager.

He’s young, clearly still in high school, with sandy brown hair, huge brown eyes, and a wiry frame. He’s short, baby-faced, and obviously in no way involved with anything Luffy and Zoro have going on.

“What the fuck, Zoro!?” the teenager screams, totally blind-sighting Sanji. “There’s so much blood!”

Oh, that’s right. Zoro hasn’t complained or even grimaced since the attack, so Sanji completely forgot that Gin stabbed him. The blood is actually not so noticeable with their uniform red shirt, but the white rag Zoro used to suppress the bleeding is now a brighter red than his shirt.

Do vampires bleed? Aren’t they supposed to be dead?

“Most of it isn’t mine,” Zoro shrugs. “He caught me by surprise.”

“Well, if you would _eat_ —like I’ve told you dozens of times—it wouldn’t have mattered,” the kid snaps. “Get in here. You’re eating. _Now_.”

Zoro rolls his eyes but walks inside the house, past the teen who looks at Luffy, then at Sanji.

“Hi! I’m Chopper,” he greets jovially, once again surprising Sanji. “You must be Sanji.”

“Uh, yeah, hi,” he says, about the only thing he _can_ say. 

“You can go in, too,” Chopper tells him. “Luffy, Nami has Shank on the phone.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Luffy nods, and nudges Sanji forward to walk inside the house.

Well, there are no coffins anywhere to be seen. The house is nice, a bit small, walls painted a light coral pink, the floors wooden, the furniture old and well-worn, the type of place that screams comfort. The living room and kitchen are separated by a tall bar, with the dining room in a whole separate room, seen from the living room entrance. Nami’s on the phone inside the dining room, pacing back and forth, while Zoro is in the kitchen, waiting by the microwave.

“You only had B-negative,” Zoro grunts. 

“Well, at least it isn’t O-positive,” Chopper snaps. “How many did you grab?”

“One.”

“You need at least two! You haven’t started to heal, have you?”

“There was dead blood on the knife. I’ll be fine as soon—.”

“I’m the doctor,” Chopper interrupts, opening the fridge to reveal stacks of blood bags, and grabs one from the top. “The more you bleed, the longer it takes you to heal, and the hungrier you get. Do you really want to get _that_ hungry?”

Zoro glares at the kid, but snatches the bag from his hand.

Sanji stares. That’s blood. Like, real _human_ blood. It’s in one of those medical pouches, the ones he’s seen in movies, with the white sticker and everything. The microwave dings and Zoro pulls out a similar pouch, replacing it with the cold one, and Sanji can only stare as he brings it to his mouth and starts drinking.

Holy shit, he’s a vampire.

Yeah, Sanji saw him drinking from Gin, but somehow, seeing him like this, in the tiny kitchen drinking from a blood bag with a short teenager fussing around him, it suddenly strikes him that Zoro is a _fucking_ vampire.

Vampires exist. They _actually_ exist, and Sanji is the unfortunate position of having caught them in an unfavorable situation. Are they going to try and silence him? Threaten him? _Drink_ from him!?

Did they bring him here to kill him? Nobody knows he’s here, and Zoro probably knows a hell of a lot about disposing bodies. 

Is he going to be drained?

“ _Jesus_ , relax!” Zoro suddenly exclaims, making Sanji jump about a foot. “We’re not going to kill you, moron.”

They can _read minds_?! Okay, Sanji is now officially dead. 

“I can’t read minds, you idiot. You’re just easy to read. And I can hear your heart beating a mile a second,” Zoro says, rolling his eyes. 

Chopper looks him at him with concerned eyes. “Are you feeling alright, Sanji? Do you need to sit down. Want something to drink?”

“I want to go home,” Sanji says, voice strangled. His feet have been moving him backwards, which he’s sure Zoro’s noticed, but he doubts he can escape. “I’m not going to tell anybody. So just let me go home.”

Like anybody will believe him. In fact, he hardly believes himself. He seriously hopes he’s just hallucinating from exhaustion.

“I’ll give you a ride.”

Sanji’s eyes snap to Nami, standing by the dining room entrance with Luffy next to her. “Nami! Oh thank you, my lovely flower, I—.”

“But we need to talk to you first,” she interrupts, face stony. She looks different, too. She stands differently, taller and more confident. Her eyes are cold, her face more unforgiving than even when Sanji first started flirting with her.

“I already said, I won’t tell anybody,” Sanji says quietly.

“It’s not about that,” Nami says, waving her hand. “No one would believe you anyway.”

Sanji swallows hard, feeling the shift in mood. Zoro’s simply staring at him, somehow managing to look intimidating while sucking on a bag, with Chopper still fussing at his wound. Luffy’s frowning a bit, leaning against the door frame, staring at Nami.

“Then about what?”

“What else? Today,” Nami answers, rolling her eyes. “See, Luffy told me what happened. And it seems to me…Gin knows you.”

“He doesn’t _know_ me,” Sanji says quickly, glancing at Luffy, then Zoro. “He’s my next-door neighbor. We hardly ever talk.”

“Really?” Zoro grunts. “Because he started working there after you did.”

“That’s just a coincidence.”

“Maybe,” Nami says, eyes cold. “But this is the first time a hunter has gotten past our defenses at the Sunny. That place is home to us, not just a job. It’s the only place where we can feel safe…normal. And if there are hunters crawling around—.”

“I’m not a hunter!” Sanji exclaims. “I don’t even know what that means! I didn’t even believe vampires were real until right now! I don’t know anything about any of this!”

“Guys, I don’t think he has anything to do with it,” Luffy says quietly. “He stopped Gin. He helped Zoro.”

“He didn’t _help_ —!”

“I trust him,” Luffy finishes, ignoring Zoro.

Zoro snorts and the tense spell is broken. “I am so beating Usopp up for this.”

“You and me both,” Nami mutters. “So Shanks said you and Luffy are to stay here till morning; he will stop by before breakfast to talk to the both of you. The mess you left behind has been cleaned up, but at least try to wipe the blood from the floor next time. It’s a bitch to clean.”’

Zoro simply shrugs. 

“Sanji, we’re leaving.”

Sanji startles, quickly following after Nami as she walks past him and outside. He gives a last glance at the trio, but none of them are paying any attention to him. 

Nami’s yellow beetle is a tiny car, the type where Sanji has to bend his legs awkwardly to fit. It smells heavily of tangy perfume, and the back seat is cluttered with books, two purses, a few takeout bags, clothes, and empty water bottles.

“I clean it out on the weekends,” Nami shrugs, noticing where his gaze is. 

He doesn’t have anything nice to say, so he doesn’t say anything at all.The atmosphere is tense, but Sanji didn’t expect anything else considering the red-head just accused him of wanting to kill her friends.

Which brings the question…

Is Nami a vampire as well? Is she just friends with them? How did Zoro and Luffy end up working at the Thousand Sunny? Are there more vampires at the grocery store? Nami did mention a Shanks, and if Sanji can remember correctly, he’s pretty sure that’s Mr. Red’s first name, the owner of the store.

Is he a vampire? Is the Thousand Sunny just a cover up to hide vampires? But why a _grocery_ store? And why hire normal people? And why name it Thousand _Sunny_ , when it houses freaking _vampires_!?!?

Sanji doesn’t have an answer to any of those questions. He isn’t even sure if what he knows is real, of if there are more things out there that have completely evaded his awareness.

“Are werewolves real?”

Nami glances at him, then returns her gaze to the road. “Nope.”

Well, at least there’s that.

“It’s not like this is a Meyer book,” Nami continues, surprising Sanji. “Vampirism is a medical illness. Totally backed up by science, except most people don’t like looking at the facts. Everything is caused by a tiny little virus swimming in their blood stream…incurable at the moment, unfortunately.”

“A virus? Really?”

Nami nods. “It eats up blood cells faster than the human body can create them, so that’s where the craving comes from. It’s a parasitic virus, completely changing the human body in order to make the perfect host. Feed it regularly, you can live a pretty normal life. Skip a couple of meals like Zoro did…well, let’s just say it’s not as pretty as what you saw.”

So Zoro was hungry, that’s why he fed off Gin? Well, probably also because Gin attacked him. Is that why Gin started working at the Sunny? To kill vampires?

Nami drops him off at the Sunny, where Sanji’s car is still parked, and wishes him a good night. He’s a bit confused by her goodbye, considering how cheery it was in light of everything, but his brain is about ready to shut down, so he dismisses the thought.

He gets home pretty late—or early, depending on how you look at it—and only takes off his shoes before he falls into bed and into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are my own.


End file.
